Community members gather in the Kalamazoo Gazette hub in downtown Kalamazoo in 2012 to listen to candidates running for county office.Kalamazoo Gazette file photo

Today, my plan was to write about the upcoming local elections.

For those of you living in the city of Kalamazoo and the city of Portage, that means the importance of selecting our leaders to guide us into the future.

So much focus is placed on Washington and Lansing but, the truth is, many of the things that have real impact on our day-to-day levels are decided at the local level.

Think about police officers on the street, teachers in the classroom, local parks, water coming out of your faucet.

So, I was going to write about all of that, as well as the fact that we at the Kalamazoo Gazette are hosting candidate forums on Tuesday and Wednesday to help voters make their decisions on Nov. 5.

But as I sat down to write this column I was reminded that Sunday is my daughter’s birthday.

“Write about me!” she said as I told her we needed to get her to bed so I could get started on my column.

My daughter is now 8. While many days she seems to be growing up lickety-split, I like to remember that she is not quite halfway to 18. That’s 10 more years of childhood in my book.

She and her little brother have a lot riding on the future of this community. We all do, of course. But the importance of local elections is heightened in my mind when viewed from the vantage of our young people.

What decisions are being made today that will affect the vibrancy of Kalamazoo and Portage not just next year but 10, 20, 30 years from now?

For example, some provocative questions have been raised in recent months about the long-term costs of public-safety services in Kalamazoo County. I think most of us would agree that high quality police and fire protection are one of the most important services we receive for our tax dollars.

But the financial trend lines show that these high levels of service are not likely sustainable over the long term. Some tough choices loom: reduce protection, raise taxes or find a new way of doing things.

This is just one example of why local elections matter.

On Nov. 5, voters in Kalamazoo and Portage will go to the polls to choose at least one new member for the City Commission and the City Council, respectively.

We have begun posting candidates’ answers to our questionnaires online as well as videos of the candidates. In print, we will have coverage throughout the month leading up to Election Day.

On Tuesday, you are invited to the Gazette’s hub at 306 S. Kalamazoo Mall in downtown Kalamazoo to meet the candidates running for City Commission. On Wednesday, you are again invited to a similar event for Portage City Council candidates at the Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane. Both events start at 6 p.m.